3 Shopping Hacks You NEED To Know Before Black Friday

When it comes to Black Friday, there’s only one sensible place to be – safe, at home (or at work, I see you gals), and scouring the sales with a hot drink in hand. I, for one, certainly don’t have the time, patience or strength to be blitzing through Curry’s in the bid to bag a bargain. Do you remember the madness that ensued last year in Asda, of all places? That’s a definite nope from me. So as Black Friday/Cyber Monday/etc. etc. slowly creep up on us, there’s never been a better time to dust up on your online shopping skills, ready for the immense sales that are about to drop. Get your browsers prepped and your alarms set, ladies and gents, and don’t forget these three shopping hacks that you NEED to know before Black Friday…

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1. For designer goods, make sure you’re checking Flash Sale sites

Flash sale sites are the best for picking up designer goods at a fraction of the price. As you guys know, one of my favourites is BrandAlley.co.uk, the destination from where I was able to bag this beautiful Lanvin bag for close to half its recommended retail price. BrandAlley features flash sales all year round – up to 7 new sales a day, in fact – with the catch being that they typically only last a few days so you have to be quick about buying what you want. Whilst this is great for day to day online shopping, the hack here is that the sales get considerably better around Cyber Week. BrandAlley for example are running a weekly scratch card promotion, with one-off deals being promoted each day and exclusive discounts applied. Make sure you’re checking back each day, and don’t forget to snoop through the Outlet and Brand Sales too for big names like Jimmy Choo, Amanda Wakely and Louis Vuitton.

2. Save whilst you shop with cashback sites

I’ve always been put off by cashback sites,
merely because they seem like a lot of extra effort on top of what is already a
manic shopping experience. However, whilst researching for this post, I took a
little time to look further into them and they’re actually way simpler than
they seem.

Cashback sites are particularly useful around
Black Friday because the reward rates increase and you’re literally getting
paid to shop. All you have to do is sign up to the programme, search for items in
the search bar and purchase through the provided link. It’s basically the
website providing you with an affiliate link, but you get the affiliate reward.
There are several different sites to choose from and each has different
rewards, but Quidco seems to be the best for fashion and beauty (not sponsored,
honest opinion!). For example, they are currently offering up to 11% cashback
on Topshop, Zalando and ASOS, with all other big name brands available to shop
too. If you’re planning on doing a lot of BF shopping, why not get a little
back on what you spend (to spend again, obviously).

3. Befriend your bookmarks and adopt the
traffic light method

Retailers quickly cottoned on to how lucrative
Black Friday can be. That’s why there are sales on Black Friday, before Black
Friday, the following week after Black Friday – any opportunity to make the
most out of the Black Friday hype, basically. However, it’s easy to get lost in
the madness. If you want to be a savvy Black Friday shopper, adopt the traffic
light method, and make a list of what you want the most (green), what you would
like (orange), and what you could you be tempted to buy if the price is good
enough (red). That way you can prioritise certain items and avoid bulk buying, which
will save you from either buyer’s regret or packaging up a hefty returns parcel
a week later.

Also, make the most of your bookmarks! Whilst
some retailers publicise their Black Friday deals beforehand to build the hype,
many don’t. If you’re lusting over a particular item and aren’t sure if it will
be on sale come the big day, simply bookmark it now and open later. This way
you’ll go straight to the items you want the most, ensuring that you’re first
to checkout if a good deal has been applied. This is also a great trick for
those – like myself – who are hoping for lots of items from lots of different
retailers. Rather than having to manually launch a tonne of different sites and
search through masses of items, you can simply open a series of tabs and have
everything loaded from the get go. Hack secured.

This was so useful! I haven't been on the Black Friday hype before- I also don't have the patience for crazy sales. But I can be so bad at shopping online; I often don't know exactly what I want and I find internet shopping so overwhelming, especially when I want it all and can only pick a few things!

I always try to use Quidco for cahsback, it's been such a good thing and I've had quite a bit back from it. Some places take longer to pay out than others, but I figure something back is better than nothing!